Prez. Mahama: “$150M WACA Coastal Project Funds Are Safe” Amid Fuveme Tidal Wave Visit

Added: 2026-04-30

[00:00:00]Mau uh thank you for welcoming us this uh afternoon. Um we got information about what happened with the sea uh breaking through and so today we decided to come and take a look at what is happening.

[00:00:19]All this area is part of a project area that is called Waka and it's a wellbank uh project. Um we already have done some work ourselves. Earlier when I was president we did the cleoto sea defense all that area. Before that Rawlings government had done the keta sea defense and then we also uh started did bleusu one and then bleusu 2 is currently ongoing. The rest of the coast is supposed to be covered by the World Bank $150 million Waka project and that includes this area all the way to Ketu uh south and parts of Angloa. And so as the uh minister told you um there's going to be sea defense and there also going to be groins built into the sea to break the the currents the strong waves so that it will come back to the coast in a very gentle manner. There also be planting of coconut trees on the beaches in order to stabilize the the soil. They would also help with planting of mangroves in the estuary to defend the land against the seas encroachment.

[00:01:38]The project stalled for a while in 2024 mainly because of the elections and then when we came we continued it and so I'm happy to announce that the physibility study is finished. They are the design stage. after the design stage they'll do the procurement that is the actual construction of the Waka project and so I'm sure that very soon we'll try and speed it up very soon you'll see that work will start on your coastal um um area we try to repurpose some of the World Bank projects but as the minister said we protected the 150 million that is meant for the Waka project so your money is safe and the project is going to go on some of the other World Bank projects stalled and the money is being repurposed for other important priorities and so I just want to ask for your cooperation as we continue the processes to do the work but in the meantime we will contact VR to see if they can do some dredging in the main estrary so that it eases the pressure on this side.

[00:02:47]Normally when the estrary is silted then it looks for ways to join to the sea in other places. That is what is happening exactly here. But if we dredge it it allows more water to flow out of the water into the sea. So we'll take immediate measures to try and reduce the effect. But the long-term solution is the wellbank project which we are about to start. And so let me thank you uh very much for your patience and your tolerance and we look forward to your cooperation. Thank you very